


You Don't Know Where He's Been

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Amnesia, Angst and Feels, Archie-centric, Cheryl is a Good Friend, F/M, Flashbacks, Future Fic, Hugs, Hurt Archie Andrews, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Married Couple, Memories, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Past Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Repressed Memories, Stockholm Syndrome, Suicide Attempt, Therapy, Trauma, Vomiting, also happens before the fic starts, can i use that? idk, it happens before the fic starts so idk, sort of idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-11-23 13:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11403036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: “What? Why are the both of you looking at me like that? Am I speaking alien or something? You guys are acting so weird, I-.”Archie glances down at the side table next to him, then does a double take. There are photo’s that hadn’t been there the last time that he was here. There’s one of Polly with a one year old boy and girl on each hip. The next has Betty, Jughead, and Jellybean all standing together and beaming at the camera. The photo on the far right includes Kevin, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead, each one of them dressed in a cap and gown. Archie has half a mind to ask about the photos, before he looks up at the photograph on the wall in front of him.Betty is hugging Jughead from behind, a diamond ring proudly shining on her ring finger.“What day is it?” Archie manages to ask, despite his mouth having gone dry.“September 3rd…2019.” Betty tells him.“Archie…” Jughead says. “Where have you been?”He shakes his head, struggling to make the words come out of his mouth. “I don’t know.”ORArchie disappears for two years, and shows up again with no idea as to where he's been. This is what happens as he tries to remember all of the messy details.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my 50th work on ao3, holy shit. Thanks to everyone who has been reading my fics since I first posted (my early Teen Wolf days were rough). Warning: updates may be sporadic because I haven't completely figured out the ending yet, but I'll update as often as I can. I'm shooting for six chapters. Also, the first chapter is a little short, but with good reason.
> 
> Unbeta'd and I do not own anything.

“Hey, Casanova,” Fred says as Archie enters the restaurant. “I went ahead and ordered your usual.”

“Thanks, Dad, I’m just gonna go wash my hands.”

Archie can’t help but grin like a mad man and he runs his one good hand under water. Staring back at his own reflection in the mirror he swears he’s never been so happy in his entire life. Himself and his friends had spent the whole night laughing at Pop’s. He’d had the most amazing night with Veronica, wishes that he could have stayed a little longer. But he’d woken up to a text from his Dad asking to meet at Pop’s for breakfast, so, here he is.

The sound of yelling and glass breaking catches his attention, makes him move towards the door. When he steps out he sees a masked man standing on top of the bar, holding a gun to Pop Tate’s forehead and screaming at him to open the register. Archie looks towards his Dad.

Fred shakes his head, gives his son a terrified look that says: _Don’t move, don’t put yourself in danger, I can’t have you getting hurt. Stay where you are, let me handle this._

When Archie looks back, the masked man is looking right at him, pointing the gun in his direction. A sense of overwhelming panic that he’d never felt before came over his entire body in an instant.

“Archie, run!” Fred yells at him.

Archie is running out the back door in a second, speeding through the woods, not stopping even when he hears the unmistakable _pop_ of a gun going off. He loses sight of the restaurant in a second, darting through the trees, putting as much distance as he can between himself and Pop’s diner.

At some point, he finds a strip of road, speeds out into the open strip without looking and nearly gets taken out by a car. The car screeches to a halt a few feet away from him, startling Archie and causing him to fall. He smacks the left side of his head against the pavement but pushes himself to his feet. He ignores the way that the world seems to tilt to one side and keeps going.

He continues to run until he’s dizzy, until black spots begin to dance in his vision. His chest burns with panic and exhaustion, but he keeps going until he feels like his legs are going to fall off. Archie breathes heavily, eyes shut tight in fear and willing himself not to pass out.

When he opens his eyes, he realizes that he’s standing inside of the payphone across from Riverdale’s only bus station. He doesn’t remember coming in here, hell he doesn’t even know how long he was running for. Regardless, he picks up the phone and dials the number to the Sheriff’s station with a shaky hand. His chest is still heaving when someone picks up on the other end.

_“This is the Riverdale Sheriff’s Station, you’ve reached Deputy Cameron what can I help you with?”_

“I uh- I need to report a robbery.”

_“What’s your location?”_

“It’s at Pop’s, t-the diner, Pop’s diner.”

Deputy Cameron huffed out a laugh on the other end. _“Yeah, okay, really funny, kid. This line is for emergencies only.”_

“W-What?” Archie couldn’t help but be confused, he was telling the truth. Why would this guy _laugh_ at him?

_“Pranks calls are illegal. Besides, Pop’s was shut down nearly a year and a half ago, everyone in town knows that.”_

“I was just there, I swear to god, there’s a robbery, I’m not lying. I heard a gun go off, someone's been shot. Y-You need to send an ambulance, someone needs help. Please you have to believe me.”

_“Alright, I’m tracing this number if you don’t-.”_

Archie disconnects the call out of fear, slams the phone down onto the receiver more forcefully than he needs to. He’s a new level of confused; Pop’s couldn’t be closed, he was just there five minutes ago… wasn’t he? He couldn’t have been running for that long. In an attempt to settle his racing heart, he steps out of the phone booth, breathing deeply. He realizes that it’s warmer than he realized, the air slightly humid.

_I could have sworn there was snow on the ground when I woke up this morning. Did it melt already? Where did this warm weather come from? I must have hit my head harder than I thought._

Archie pushes open the door to the bus station, walking right up to the front desk.

“Are you done making a mess in my bathroom?” She asks as he approaches. The woman has graying hair and a raspy voice. Archie can’t help but notice the smell of cigarettes coming off of her.

He cocks his head at her statement. “Uh- I-I’m sorry?”

She glares at him. “Don’t act like I didn’t just hear you losing last night’s kegger into that toilet bowl a few minutes ago. I wasn’t born yesterday.”

_What the hell is she talking about? Was I already in here today? God, I must have been drugged or something._

“Do you have the time?” He asks, feeling around for his wallet. He’s about to pull out the lump he feels in his inner pocket when the woman’s answer stops him in his tracks.

“It’s a little after two o’clock.”

He stalls, then scoffs at the assumed joke. “No, seriously, what time is it?”

The woman glares at him. “It’s 2:15 in the afternoon, is that specific enough for you, kid?”

Archie looks up at her, then at the clock on the wall behind her. The digital clock switches to 2:16 the moment after he looks up, and Archie cocks his head in confusion. It was only a little after eight when his dad had texted him about breakfast that morning, there’s no way that it could already be two in the afternoon.

“You-You’re kidding me, right?”

The woman places both hands on the countertop, anger spreading across her features. “Sonny, I swear if you ask me if I’m kidding _one more time-_.”

“Okay, okay- I’m sorry.” Archie throws up his hands in defense. “I’ll leave now, I’m sorry for bothering you.”

His confusion only grows as he steps out of the bus station. He looks back at the building as he pulls his phone out of the pocket of his suit jacket only to find that his phone is dead.

_Wait, hold on, I wasn’t wearing a suit earlier…where the hell did I get this suit? Where’s my cast?_

Archie pulls at the charcoal gray jacket with one hand, trying to remember when he bought this jacket. The further he looks, he realizes that he’s wearing matching pants and a dark blue button-down shirt, not even tucked in. He has no recollection of putting these clothes on this morning, hell he isn’t even sure that they belong to him.

Next, he closes his formerly casted hand into a fist, then opens it only to close it again. Archie is more than surprised when the action doesn’t hurt, as if he’d never even broken his hand in the first place. He’s beginning to think that yesterday was just some big, very realistic dream. He wonders if he’s dreaming right now, but pushes the thought down and settles on making his way home.

When Archie sticks his hands back in his pocket, he comes into contact with cool metal. He pulls out a pair of car keys that he’s never seen before. The parking lot is empty except for a mountain bike leaning against the side of the building, so the keys can’t belong to the woman inside. They can’t be his Dad’s; his Dad had driven his truck to Pop’s that morning.

_Shit, Dad. He’s probably wondering where I am. I gotta get home, I gotta see if there… if he’s okay._

His nerves kick into high gear once again as he begins his trek home. Something about the town feels different to him, but he can’t quite put his finger on it. The bus station is two and a half miles from his house, and it’s not until he’s walking down his street that he realizes that he doesn’t have his house key with him. He walks to the Cooper’s front door, remembering that his dad had given them a spare key for moments like this.

Archie knocks on the door, craning his neck to see if his Dad’s truck is in the driveway. The door swings open and Jughead is on the other side, a mortified look coming across his face at the sight of the redhead.

“Hey, Jug, I don’t have my house key I was gonna ask Betty if she…” It’s not until he’s let himself inside that Archie realizes Jughead looks like he’s seen a ghost. “Dude, why are you looking at me like that? I just saw you last night.”

Jughead gapes at him, his voice almost a whisper. “Do you know what day it is, Arch?”

“It’s the middle of October… your birthday was like two weeks ago, Jug. Hey, did you hear about the robbery at Pop’s this morning? I was there with my dad when it happened but I ran like a bat out of hell before anything went down, you haven’t heard from him have you?”

“Jughead, who was at the-.” Betty gasps as she comes around the corner, already moving towards Archie. “Oh my god, oh my god you’re alive. We thought that we would never see you again.”

Archie pulls a face as her arms go around his neck, hugging her back. “Betty, I just saw you last night, what are you talking about? We were both at the Jubilee and then at Pop’s, remember?”

Betty pulls away from him then, making the same face as Jughead.

“What? Why are the both of you looking at me like that? Am I speaking alien or something? You guys are acting so weird, I-.”

Archie glances down at the side table next to him, then does a double take. There are photo’s that hadn’t been there the last time that he was here. There’s one of Polly with a one-year-old boy and girl on each hip. The next has Betty, Jughead, and Jellybean all standing together and beaming at the camera. The photo on the far right includes Kevin, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead, each one of them dressed in a cap and gown. Archie has half a mind to ask about the photos before he looks up at the photograph on the wall in front of him.

Betty is hugging Jughead from behind, a diamond ring proudly shining on her ring finger.

“What day is it?” Archie manages to ask, despite his mouth having gone dry.

“September 3rd…2019,” Betty tells him.

“Archie…” Jughead says. “Where have you been?”

He shakes his head, struggling to make the words come out of his mouth. “I don’t know.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who gave a kudos or had something nice to say about the previous chapter! I'm so glad that y'all like it!

The three of them stand in the entry way for what feels like hours before they move into the kitchen. Jughead paces in front of the table as Archie tells the couple everything that happened, right down to the last detail. His body practically vibrates against the table as he tries to contain his nerves, he’s wracking his brain out trying to come up with a viable explanation for this.

_This can’t be happening. There’s no way that I was gone for two years. I must be dreaming, this isn’t real. I must be concussed, I hit my head this morning, that must be it. This is all just some vivid hallucination._

“You’re not concussed, Archie. We would know.” Jughead pipes in from the far end of the dining room table. “To answer your next question, yes, you said that out loud.”

Betty glares at Jughead, then leans over at end of the table, one arm bracing her up.

“Let me see if I got this right. So, you woke up this morning at Veronica’s, went to Pop’s, witnessed part of a robbery, and then ran for your life and ended up at the bus station?”

“Yeah, yeah that’s what happened,” Archie assures her.

She shakes her head, sitting at the table and grabbing his hand. “Archie, that was two years ago. Pop’s was shut down a year and a half ago.”

“But I was there, I swear I was! My Dad was there too, he can tell you- shit, my Dad. I gotta go home, he’s probably worried sick.” Archie moves to get up, only stopping when Betty tightens her grip.

“He’s not there, Arch.”

His heart nearly stops. “What do you mean he’s not there?”

Betty bites her lip as if attempting to find the correct words to say.

“He moved out of town last month,” Jughead says in a rush. “We can call him later, but for now both of you need to get up. We have to go down to the station.”

Archie wants to breathe a sigh of relief, but he is too caught off guard by the rest of Jughead’s statement to do so.

“What? Why?”

“Because we can’t be the only ones that know you’re alive, Archie.” He proclaims loudly. “If no one knows you’re alive then _you aren’t_. That isn’t going to help us understand how you got here; this mess isn’t going to clean itself up.”

***

The moment that Archie steps foot inside of the Sheriff’s Station, he feels all eyes in a ten-foot radius begin to stare him down. He hears a gasp from somewhere off in the distance, and the sudden silence makes him more than uneasy. The things only keeping him from bailing on the situation are Betty and Jughead on either side of him, calming his nerves just by being there.

Archie looks over just as Sheriff Keller comes walking out of his office; the older man notices Archie immediately and nearly drops his coffee.

“Well I’ll be damned.” He says, his light laughter just loud enough for Archie to hear him.

Twenty minutes later, Archie is Sheriff Keller’s office with Betty and Jughead, telling the story all over again. He tells the Sheriff everything that he can about that morning; he swears over and over again that he doesn’t know where he’s been all this time.

“Could you tell me how you got to the bus stop? You had to have come from somewhere.”

Archie fumbles for words as Kevin walks into his Dad’s office, his jaw immediately dropping at the sight of Archie.

“Hey, Kevin… it’s good to see you?”

Kevin is still gaping at him when Jughead pipes in from the back.

“Kev, close your mouth, you’re letting the flies in.”

Archie rolls his eyes at the comment, nervously running his thumb over the jagged edge of the keys that had been in his pocket. He keeps staring at them as if they're magically going to give him all of the answers to the situation.

“What’s that?” Sheriff Keller asks, gesturing to the car keys.

Archie hands them over, suddenly feeling naked without something to fidget with it.

Sheriff Keller turns the keys over in his hands. “Where did you get these?”

“I-I don’t know, they were in my pocket when I left the bus station.”

“I’m going to hand these off to the crime lab and see if we can pull any fingerprints off of them, or maybe see if it comes with a tracker. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to hunt down the location of the vehicle. I’ll be in touch with you, but uh- you know, don’t leave town or anything alright? … It’s good to have you back, son.”  

Archie nods, not meeting the Sheriff’s eye as he leaves. Betty places her hand on Archie’s shoulder, he looks back at her.

“Are you hungry? We could go over to Ronnie’s for a late lunch if you want to.”

“She won’t mind if we invite ourselves over? -Wait, since when do you call her Ronnie? I’ve never heard you do that before.”

After watching Betty sputter for the third time that day, Jughead explains to Archie that “Ronnie’s” is the restaurant that was opened in place of Pop’s. On the drive over to Ronnie’s, Archie stares out of the window in the backseat of Jughead’s truck, re-familiarizing himself with the town.

When they pull up, he notices that everything about the outside of the building is the same except for the sign. Now, instead of saying “Pop’s Chock’Lit Shoppe” in bright orange, neon lights, it says “Ronnie’s Place” in deep, purple lettering. Archie can’t help but notice that the dot above the “I” isn’t purple like the rest, but a single bright white light.

_It looks like a pearl…huh. Ronnie has always been clever like that._

Inside, the layout is exactly as it’s always been; booths line the walls and multi-colored stools are set in front of the counter. The walls have been painted a greyish-blue color, making the room bright where the sun comes in from the windows and shines across the open floor. Archie has no trouble finding his usual booth, sliding in across from Betty and Jughead.

“Veronica really owns this place?”

“Yeah,” Betty assures him. “She had a lot of help from her Mom and Pop Tate, but it was all her idea. After Pop’s got shutdown-.”

“Why did it get shut down?” Archie interrupts, he doesn’t miss the weary look that Betty and Jughead share.

Jughead reaches across the table, squeezing his upper arm. “Let’s uh- …Why don’t we save that conversation for later, alright? We should be celebrating, damn it. Riverdale’s residential Golden Boy is back in town. I don’t know about you two, but that’s as big a deal as I’ve ever heard.”

Archie huffs out a laugh, shaking his head at Jughead’s mocking tone.

“I’m going to go wash up,” Betty tells the two boys, sliding out of the booth. “Be back in a minute.”

When Betty walks past him, the smell of her perfume makes Archie’s head spin.

_He’s lying down with his head in a someone’s lap. The smell of thick, flowery perfume is filling his nostrils. His head is pounding, it’s never hurt this badly before in all of his life. Somebody holds a wet cloth to his temple, shushing him when he whines. He opens his eyes but everything is foggy, like trying to see underwater._

_“Shhh, it’s okay,” A woman’s voice says. “You’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you. Get some rest, sweet boy.”_

Archie comes back to himself, and just like at the Sheriff’s Station, everyone nearby is staring at him. He’s shifted at some point; his legs hang off the edge of the booth and Jughead is kneeling in front of him, giving him a concerned look. Betty is standing behind him, looking as panicked as ever. Archie’s face burns red as he breathes heavily, feeling embarrassed. 

“Arch?” Betty asks quietly. “Are you okay?”

He nods feebly. “Y-yeah.”

Jughead places a firm, but cautious hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go home, okay? We can have lunch here another day.”

Archie nods again, then allows Jughead to guide him out of the restaurant with a hand on his back, Betty trailing behind them.

It’s unnervingly silent in the truck on the way back to Betty’s house; Archie hates it. He hates that he doesn’t know what to say to his two best friends. He can’t stand that there’s this world of difference between the three of them now. Archie wishes that he could turn it off, he wishes that he could figure where he’s been all this time.

As he’s watching Betty drive, he thinks of something else.

“You guys are engaged?”

Betty’s hand tense around the steering wheel and Jughead looks at her as if he’s trying to figure out how he’s supposed to answer the question.

“Married, actually,” Betty answers, as if it’s nothing to be overjoyed about, but still with glee in her tone.

“Not to sound accusatory or anything, but aren’t you guys a little young?”

Jughead reaches over to grab Betty’s hand as they pull into the driveway. He turns back to look at Archie, a small grin spread across his face.

“Sometimes when its right, you just know. Besides people get married at almost twenty all the time.”

Archie has half a mind to correct him before he remembers that he’s right, Jughead will be twenty in a few weeks. Hell, Archie is already eighteen, already a legal adult. He didn’t even get to experience being seventeen, at least not as far back as he can remember. The thought makes his stomach flip, makes him itch to get out of the truck so he can try and shake the anxious feeling from his limbs.

Once he exits the truck, he looks across the street towards his house, now his old house. A part of him aches to go inside, to find his dad and Vegas and just hug them. He notices that the front door is different, has been entirely replaced.

“Who’s lives there now?” He asks. “In my ho- my old house, I mean.”  

“Hermione Lodge,” Jughead tells him, trying to find the house key. “She moved in a few- what are you doing? Archie, wait, don’t.”

Archie is already across the street and halfway up the front porch by the time Jughead had finished his sentence. He knocks on the front door as Betty and Jughead run up behind him.

The front door swings open and Hermione stands there with a blank look on her face. She looks like she’s aged ten years opposed to two; there are bags under her eyes that Archie hadn’t noticed before. The gleam in her eye that she and Veronica used to share is gone; something about her new appearance worries Archie, but he can’t put his finger on it.

“Archie? Is that really you?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Lodge, it’s really me.” He grins; he gestures to his friends behind him. “Betty and Jughead told me that you live here now since my dad moved out.”

Hermione shares an odd look with Jughead over Archie’s shoulder before she nods. “That’s right, I do. Would you like to come in and look around?”  

“Yeah, yeah, I would love that, thank you.”

Archie no more steps foot inside the door than does he get brought to his knees by sixty pounds worth of golden retriever. Vegas whines and licks at Archie’s face while he laughs, trying to keep him still.

“Hey, buddy. What are you doing here?” Archie looks back at Jughead. “Why isn’t Vegas with my dad?”

Jughead crosses his arms over his chest. “Your Dad’s new building doesn’t allow pets, he didn’t realize it until after he’d signed the lease. Hermione has been cool enough to watch after Vegas for him.” 

Archie has a nagging feeling that his friends aren’t telling him everything, but he ignores it, not wanting to ruin the mood or make things awkward.

They continue on with the house tour, and if he didn’t know any better, Archie would have sworn he’d never been there before. All of the photos of him from when he was a kid have been taken down. The living room has been painted a new color; he remembers standing in the hardware store with his mom for over an hour before they had finally decided on the right color. The flooring that he helped his Dad put in the summer that he was fourteen has been torn up and replaced with a darker wood.

It’s as if everything “Archie-like” that was once in the house has been removed. In some sense, it’s like he had been forgotten.

“C’mon, I’ll show you the upstairs,” Hermione tells him. “I think you’ll be very surprised.”

She leads him right to his bedroom, throwing open the door. Compared to the rest of the house, it’s like stepping into a new world, or, an old world, to Archie at least.

Everything in his room is exactly the way that he left it. The walls are the same dark shade of blue, his acoustic guitar is still leaning against his bed frame, and his favorite maroon colored hoodie is slung over his desk chair. Archie feels himself breathe a sigh of relief as he runs he hand over the material, the familiarity of the whole room bringing him comfort.

“You guys didn’t change anything?” He asks.

“I tried, believe me, I did,” Hermione tells him, looking around. “But Veronica wouldn’t have it. She insisted that we leave everything the way that you left it. She would always say: we have to keep it the same for when Archie comes home, we can’t change it, I won’t stand for it. Lord knows I wasn’t about to get in her way.”

“Where is she anyway? I haven’t seen her yet, I wanna talk to her.”

Archie turns back around when no one answers him. Betty is turned away and leaning on Jughead’s shoulder while he wrings his hands together. Hermione gives him a cold look out of the corner of her eye.

“You didn’t tell him?” She spits out.

Jughead opens his mouth as if to defend himself, but he’s stopped by Archie’s interjection.

“Didn’t tell me what? What aren’t you guys telling me?”

Jughead steps forward finally, a pitiful look on his face. “Arch, um-… Veronica was in a car accident four months ago, she swerved into a tree and died from the impact. I’m so sorry, pal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'M SORRY ABOUT THE ENDING. Feel free to scream at me in the comments.
> 
> Edit: I changed it to four months instead of six bc I realized I would have fucked up my own canon. Anyways, continue.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I leave for Chicago tomorrow (im seeing Hamilton there??? wtf???) so I wanted to get the new chapter out before I leave. I already have part of the next chapter started, so I'll try to get that one posted when I return next week. Enjoy!

For a moment, Archie thinks that Jughead is kidding; he’s sure that his friends and Mrs. Lodge are just carrying on with some well thought out joke, one with a shitty punchline. No one starts laughing like he expected them to, then Betty hides her face in Jughead’s shoulder blades and begins to cry silently. When Archie looks to Mrs. Lodge with the hope of her disproving the fact, she doesn’t meet his eye, keeps her gaze focused on the ground. 

Archie feels as though his tongue is trying to retreat back into his throat.

He moves backward until his calves come into contact with the bed, clumsily planting himself on the mattress. Jughead, who hasn’t stopped looking at Archie like a kicked puppy since he broke the news, tells him that they’ll leave him be, to give him some time to deal with the news. The moment that the door shuts, Archie flops onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He drags his hands over his face, feeling his jaw clench with the want to cry.

_Veronica is dead… Ronnie has been dead for four months. I’ve been gone for two fucking years, how did I let this happen?_

Archie isn’t sure how long he lies there just staring at the ceiling, his gaze half focused on old posters he’d hung up when he was fourteen. There’s an ache in his ribcage that seems to grow by the second, threatening to rob him of every new breath that he takes. He groans after a while, pushing himself to his feet and going to his closet.

He can’t help but gasp when he sees his reflection in the full body mirror that’s hung up on the inside of the closet door. He’s at least an inch taller than he remembers, maybe even more. The muscle that he had gained on his arms is now nonexistent; like it was never there to begin with. Untucking his button down, he pulls up his shirt to find that his six-pack is gone as well. Archie isn’t sure as to whether or not he should be sad about it.    

The most surprising thing, however, is that all of his clothes are still there. Hung up and collecting dust inside his small closet, just waiting to be worn again. Archie shrugs off the suit jacket he’d been wearing for God knows how long, and the phone that had still been in his pocket all this time clatters to the floor. It lands face up on the hardwood as if to mock him. 

He picks up the phone, turns it over in his hands as he moves to sit on his bed again. Archie stares at it as if the phone will give him all of the answers he’s looking for; once again, the tactic fails him.

He’s still sitting there, about to get up and look for a charger when there’s a knock on the door; Hermione pokes her head in cautiously.

“Archie? I made some dinner, if you’re hungry that is. You don’t have to join me if you’re not feeling up to it.”

He shakes his head. “No, no, I’d like that. Thank you, Mrs. Lodge.”

She gives him a closed mouth smile, turning to leave, but Archie stops her.

“Mrs. Lodge uh… I’m sorry, about Veronica.” 

She nods in return. “For your sake, Archie… so am I.”

***

After dinner, Hermione tells Archie that he’s welcome to stay in his room now that he’s back in town. He thanks her endlessly, grateful to have some sense of normalcy after the day that he’s had.

That night, he has a dream about the woman from before.

_They’re lying in bed together; Archie is on his back and the woman has her head on his shoulder, one of her hands on the center of her chest. He’s not sure why, but he can’t very well move his right leg; it feels stiff and restricted. He thinks that he injured it somehow, but can’t remember how. Archie hears the words “I’m sorry” fill the air in front of him and he realizes that he’s the one that said it._

_“I know… I know you are, honey.”_

_The woman, whoever she is, reaches up and kisses him, smiling fondly. She shifts, moving on top of him so that their hips are aligned. She kisses Archie again, more passionate this time. She sighs into his mouth and Archie runs his hand over the back of her head, his finger tugging lightly on the long strands._

_She pulls away, whispering against his mouth. “I’m so glad that you came back to me.”_

Archie startles awake, gasping lightly. He looks around, trying to come to his senses; he sees Hermione standing in the doorway and sits up, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She says.

“No, no you didn’t I just-.” He waves a hand around, trying to find the correct words. “I had a weird dream, that’s all. Is everything okay?”

“Oh no, everything is fine. I came up to tell you that Jughead and Betty are here, they’re waiting for you downstairs.”

Archie nods, getting to his feet. Much like Hermione said, Betty and Jughead are waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Betty is wearing a maroon colored dress that stops just above her knee, and Jughead is wearing one of his old flannels; they look like they're ready to tackle the day. Jughead looks right at Archie as he descends the staircase.

“Good, you’re awake. Get dressed, we have to go back to the station; Sheriff Keller thinks he might have found something.”

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them are in front of Sheriff Keller’s desk just like the previous day.

“Lucky for you, there was a tracker on the keys that you gave us,” Sheriff Keller tells the trio, sitting at his desk. The car is registered to a Taylor Garrett, she lives out in Greendale. Does that name ring any bells to you?”

Archie shakes his head. “No, not right now. Who knows, the answer might come to me later but uh… sorry, I can’t give you anything else.”

“That’s alright, son. We’ll keep looking into it and let you know if we find anything, alright?”

Archie nods, then goes home, feeling upset with himself once again because he can’t remember anything.

He sits and putters around the house for two days, feeling out of place. By the third day, he thinks that he’s going stir crazy. When he wakes up that morning, Archie pulls on a random pair of jeans, an almost too small t-shirt, grabs his cellphone despite the battery still being dead, and then walks right out of the house. His feet move on their own accord and before he knows it, he’s standing outside of Ronnie’s.

He pulls open the door, and he sticks to just standing there for a moment, breathing in the comforting scent of cream and meat cooking on the grill. When he looks up, he spots Cheryl standing behind the counter, moving around with a sense of grace and calm that Archie had never seen in her before.

Cheryl looks up at him a second later, coming to a halt. Archie gives her a small wave, and she turns to yell over her shoulder, “Pop, I’m on break.”

She comes around to the other side of the counter, standing in front of him with a nervous look on her face. Cheryl’s hands that have been resting at her side twitch, as if she’s holding herself back from something that she wants. When she finally speaks up Archie is almost surprised.

“Can… can I give you a hug?” She asks in a small voice.

Archie nods. “Yeah, yeah, of course you can.”

Cheryl doesn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest as she hugs him tightly. Archie hugs her back and rubs his hand down her back; she pulls away after a minute then leads him over to a booth, insisting that he have an early lunch with her.

Cheryl all but talks his ear off while Archie makes his way through a stack of chocolate chip pancakes and some bacon. She tells him that she’s been running the restaurant with the help of Pop Tate, she took over after what happened to Veronica.       

“I never got to thank you… for pulling me out of the water. So, thanks. I’m really glad that you did.”

He nods again. “You’re welcome, you seem to be doing really well here. Hey, uh, can I ask you something?” 

“Sure, what is it?”

Archie considers his words before he lets them leave his mouth. “Why do all of this? I mean why run the restaurant?”

“Because Veronica was nice to me even when I didn’t deserve it, _especially_ then. She loved this place, by keeping it going I am keeping her memory alive. I’m doing what she would have wanted. After everything she did for me, for so many others in this town… she deserves that much. Veronica has a justifiable right to be remembered positively, don’t you think?”  

“Yeah.” Archie agrees quietly, not meeting her eye. “She does.”

Cheryl looks down at her watch, then gets to her feet. She goes over to the counter and scribbles on an old receipt before returning to Archie.

“I should get back to work, but here’s my new number in case you need it or… I don’t know, want to talk about anything, I guess?”

Archie stands along with her. “Thanks, Cheryl. I really appreciate that.”

She smiles at him.  Cheryl then reaches up and kisses his cheek as she tucks the phone number into the palm of Archie’s hand. He sucks in a breath as he feels an old memory coming back to him.

_The woman kisses his cheek with sincerity, as if it’s the most important thing that she’s going to do all day. She squeezes his hand before she leaves, whispering against the shell of his ear._

_“I’ll be back soon, don’t miss me too much.”_

“Archie? Are you okay?” Cheryl asks in a concerned tone.

He nods hesitantly, a cold feeling growing in his chest. Archie thanks Cheryl for the food, then leaves in a rush; he feels a sudden need to get home, to see his friends. He feels oddly panicked as he walks home, he feels like he can’t catch his breath. It leaves him more unsettled than he already is.

Archie is still mostly freaking out when he gets to the Cooper’s house. He lets himself in the front door, just as he’s been doing for years. Both Betty and Jughead are standing in the kitchen when he comes in as if they had been waiting for him. Jughead comes into the hallway as soon he spots Archie, a concerned look on his face.

“Archie?”

“Jug- I can’t-,” He tries, exhaling on a shaky breath. “It’s hard to breathe.”

“Alright. Alright, here, sit down.”

Jughead places a firm on Archie’s shoulder, guiding him to the floor. Archie sags against the hallway wall behind him; his hands are limp, one in his lap and one at his side. The hand at his side trembles until Betty comes over with a cold glass of water, pressing it into his palm; Archie jumps at the contact. He looks up at her warily, still uncertain of what exactly was going on with his body in that moment.

“When you’re ready, drink it. Slowly.” Betty tells him, squeezing his wrist. “Right now, I want you to breathe in for seven seconds, and then breathe out for eight seconds. Can you do that?”

Archie gives her a jerky nod. It takes time, more time than Archie would like to admit. It’s another ten minutes before Archie feels like he can breathe normally again, five more after that before his hands work like they’re supposed to and he’s able to drink the water that Betty had so graciously brought him. He slumped forward, folding his arms across his knees and resting his head on his forearms.

“What the hell was that?”

“It looked a lot to me like a panic attack,” Jughead says. “Welcome to the club, bud.”

Archie huffs out a laugh. “Can I reject the invitation?”

Both Betty and Jughead laugh a little, then help Archie to his feet. He shuffles over to the couch, flopping down against the cushions. Sighing deeply, he throws an arm over his eyes. A minute later, he pulls his phone out of his pocket, attaching it to the charger plugged into the wall. Before he can stop it, he falls asleep, listening to the white noise of his cell phone vibrating incessantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least I didn't kill anybody this time, right? I'll come back and fix any mistakes later. Let me know what you thought!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 90% of this chapter is Archie reading text messages. If you're not down for that, then just skip to end of Jughead's text, that's where the only important thing for the next chapter happens. But please read if you're willing. 
> 
> SIDE NOTE: If you see anything with the texts the doesn't make sense/follow up with the timeline I have in place please let me know!

Archie wakes up two hours later on the Cooper’s couch, his phone still lying on the floor next to him. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he picks it up and sees that he has 114 texts, 96 missed calls, an unidentifiable number of voicemails, then sighs to himself. Nonetheless, he scrolls to the bottom of the messages, deciding that he’s going to start at the end and work his way up to the most recent ones.

**Moose:**

_10/11/17:_ _Bruh ur dad gets shot and you skip town? I never pegged you as a coward. Who even does that?_

Archie rolls his eyes, scoffing at Moose’s text, but keeps going.

**Reggie:**

_10/12/17: Dude I heard what happened are you okay???_

_10/15/17: Where are you @??? Half of the town is looking for you man._

_11/19/17: Football isn’t the same w/out you dude._

**Kevin:**

_10/11/17:_ _Oh my god. My dad told me what happened, are you alright?_

_10/11/17: My dad just kicked in your front door in. No one can find you, where are you???_

_10/11/17: Archie this is serious. Where the hell are you?_

_10/21/17: Your dad is gonna be fine btw. Not that you’re around to care._

_02/15/18: Come back already. I need someone to play me a shitty song about heartbreak._

He laughs a little, grateful that Kevin hadn’t lost his snark while he was gone. Archie continues onto his texts from Veronica, preemptively holding his breath to prepare himself for what is to come.

**Ronnie:**

_10/11/17: How was breakfast with your dad?_

_10/11/17: That good huh? Did you get grounded for staying over at my place or something?_

_10/11/17: Archie?_

_10/11/17: Did you fall into a black hole on the way to Pop’s or something???_

_10/11/17: If you could text me back that would be cool._

_10/11/17: Oh my god Betty just called me are you okay?_

_10/11/17: Archie this isn’t funny please pick up_

_10/11/17: Please just tell me that you’re okay._

_10/11/17: Where are you? Your Dad got shot, this isn’t good. Please just call me already. You’re scaring me._

_10/11/17: If you don’t answer me in the next hour, I swear on my trust fund that I’ll never let you hear the end of it._

_10/11/17: Archiekins, c’mon. Please just call me back._

_10/11/17: Archie._

_10/11/17: Archie Andrews I’m not kidding._

_10/11/17: What the fuck dude do you do this to every girl that you sleep with???_

_10/11/17: ARCHIE PLEASE JUST ANSWER US ALREADY. JUGHEAD HAS ALREADY CALLED LIKE YOU TEN FUCKING TIMES. THIS IS INSANE._

_10/11/17: Your dad needed surgery to remove the bullets, but the doctors say that he’ll pull through. He really needs his son right now. That’s you, in case you magically forgot somehow._

_10/11/17: Sheriff Keller went to your house and you weren’t there what happened to you. I don’t understand, this isn’t like you. The Archie that I know wouldn’t do this._

_10/11/17: Not to his friends. Not to his DAD._

_10/12/17: If this is some game to you then I don’t want to play anymore._

_10/18/17: It’s been a week and you still haven’t shown, what happened to you? Where did you go?_

_10/18/17: Please tell me that you didn’t runaway like everyone else thinks you did. PLEASE._

_10/18/17: THIS IS ME BEGGING. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU._

_11/01/17: It’s been three weeks and we’ve searched every inch of this godforsaken town. Where could you possibly be hiding?_

_11/11/17: It’s only been a month and I forgot what you sound like. This really isn’t fun anymore._

_12/11/17: Two months._

_01/11/18: Three months. Today I passed someone in the hallway who smelled like you and I almost started crying. Come Back._

_02/25/18: Four and a half months. Nothing is the same without you._

_04/11/18: Six months. My mom and I moved into your Dad’s place with him and Vegas. I think my mom thinks your dad is lonely without you._

_04/11/18: I know that I am._

_08/06/18:_ _Nearly ten months._

_08/06/18: Vegas spends all day in your room waiting for you, how dare you make your dog sad like that?_

_11/17/18: Alright, it’s been over a year. When are you coming back?_

_05/24/19: I know that you’re out there somewhere. I’m coming to find you, Archie. Even if it’s the last thing I do, I will find you. I promise._

Archie can’t help but get teary-eyed when he gets to the end of Veronica’s texts. He feels stupid for missing her, seeing as they weren’t even really together all that long in the first place, but all of this hurts him like nothing else. He wants so badly to have her back, even if for only a few minutes, just to tell her that he’s okay.

With a heavy heart, he opens the messages he’d received from Cheryl Blossom.

**Cheryl:**

_10/13/17: Everybody says that you ran away. Is that true?_

_10/18/17: It’s been a week you can stop hiding now._

_01/31/18: There’s no fun in being the only redhead in town please just come back. Everyone really misses you._

_07/23/18: I didn’t thank you for pulling me out of sweet water river. So… thank you, I guess. Veronica still talks about you all the time, it’s cute if you think about it._

_05/24/19: Fuck. Fuck shit something happened to Ronnie please just come back already. We need you._

_05/26/19: First you, now Veronica. This isn’t fair. Come back. I don’t care how just do it. I don’t want to have to miss anyone else._

**Betty:**

_10/11/17: Kevin just called me and Juggie, are you okay???_

_10/11/17: Archie???_

_10/11/17: Why aren’t you answering???_

_10/11/17: Arch your dad got shot, where are you?_

_10/11/17: Wherever you are, just tell me and I’ll come get you._

_10/11/17: Archie please this is bad!!!_

_10/11/17: Where did you go? No one can find you._

_10/13/17: Archie please just answer me already._

_10/13/17: Your dad is gonna pull through but he’s worried sick about you. What happened? Where are you?_

_04/15/18: If you’re worried about getting in trouble, don’t be. Please just come back._

_10/11/18: I cant believe that its already been a year. I miss you._

_05/19/19: Jug and I are getting married soon. You probably wont see this, but I wanted to tell you. After being friends for so long and everything that we went through before you left… I don’t know, I guess that I feel like I owe you that much._

_05/24/19:_ _Archie. Oh my god Arch. V just got into a car wreck and died. Please come back please we need you here. I don’t know how to deal with this._

_05/25/19: I never thought that my life would turn out like this, Nothing is the same without you here._

His heart continues to ache as he keeps reading, but Archie knows that he can’t stop now. Before he can convince himself to slow down and take a breather, he opens the conversation from his Dad.

**Dad:**

_10/14/17: Archie kiddo wherever u are just come back to me okay? Please come home._

_10/31/17: Vegas won’t stop whining. The house is too quiet without u playing music all of the time._

_12/01/17: I keep paying ur phone bill just in case u call me someday. Hopefully u will._

_02/09/18: Had lunch with Veronica today, she misses u like crazy… so do I._

_11/16/18: Come back. I won’t punish u please just come home._

_08/02/19: I’m so sorry kid I don’t know what else to do. If I’m right then I’ll see u soon._

The end of his father’s texts makes him feel uneasy, but he pushes the feeling aside for now. Jughead is the last set of messages that he has to go through.

**Jughead:**

_10/11/17: Dude. Kevin called. That’s a lot to deal with, are you alright?_

_10/11/17: We’re on our way to the hospital, be there soon._

_10/11/17: Archie???_

_10/11/17: Where are you?_

_10/11/17: For someone who is always giving me shit for never answering texts, this is the worst time for you to not look at your phone._

_10/11/17: Are you hungover or something? This isn’t like you. Why does it keep going straight to voicemail?_

_10/11/17: Arch, c’mon. Pick up your phone._

_10/11/17: Archie. Seriously. Call one of us._

_10/11/17: Archie. This really isn’t good._

_10/11/17: Archibald Andrews, you better answer me right fucking now or I’ll kick your teeth in the next possible chance that I get._

_10/11/17: I’m not kidding._

_10/11/17: SHERIFF KELLER LITERALLY JUST KICKED YOUR DOOR DOWN_

_10/11/17: DUDE YOUR DAD HAS BEEN SHOT WHATS YOUR DEAL_

_10/11/17: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU_

_10/11/17: I’ve called you twenty times already if you don’t pick up I’m going to your house and smashing your guitar. I’m starting to get freaking homicidal please just get to the hospital already._

_10/13/17: DUDE YOUR MOM IS HERE AND SHE’S FREAKING OUT._

_10/13/17: It was worth a shot. But seriously. It’s been two days._

_10/20/17: Your dad won’t stop asking where you are please stop hurting him like this, it’s not who you are._

_11/14/17: Sheriff Keller has your picture hung up all over town, as if that’ll help._

_11/14/17: I guess I’m the only one who remembers that hide ‘n seek was your favorite game as a kid._

_01/01/18:_ _Everybody has already lost hope about you coming back, except for Veronica. She won’t shut up about you._

_01/01/18: Please don’t let them be right._

_05/14/18: Is this some sort of soul searching thing? Because eight months is certainly enough time to find yourself. You can come home any day now._

_09/23/18: I’m so fucking mad at you, I hope you know that. You just disappeared over night like it was nothing and left all of us to pick up the pieces. Who does that? A total dick move, Andrews. Dick. Move._

_09/24/18: I’m sorry that I called you a dick, but I’m not sorry for being mad at you. Which is still true, I’m still really fuckin mad at you._

_10/01/18: I had a dream about you last night. You showed up at Pop’s while I was eating lunch with my family and I was half a second away from hugging you before I realized that none of it was real. That hurt. A lot. I should have realized it was a dream; my family hasn’t been together since before sophomore year._

_10/01/18: I think the dream happened because I couldn’t stop thinkin about that horrible birthday party I had last year._

_10/01/18: Anyways; you should come back already._

_03/03/19: Please come back. Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please just come back._

_05/10/19: They saved a seat for you at graduation. It was kinda weird, mostly morbid, but in a nice way I guess. Oh yeah, Betty and I are getting married in two weeks. Just in case you wanna come. Surprisingly enough, it was my idea._

_05/24/19: Archie. Archie come back. Veronica got hurt you need to come back right now._

_05/24/19: Archie I’m not kidding._

_05/24/19: ARCHIE PLEASE._

_05/24/19: I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS. GRIEF AND I AREN’T EXACTLY FRIENDS._

_05/31/19: The funeral was this morning. You should have been there._

_08/02/19: Fuck fuck fuck FUCK._

_08/02/19: Archie_

_08/02/19: Archie your dad just tried to kill himself please get here._

_08/02/19: Hermione called an ambulance but_ _the bathrooms a mess PLEASE JUST GET HERE MY HEADS GOING TO EXPLODE_

_08/02/19: ANDREWS YOU NEED TO ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW DAMMIT._

_08/02/19: ARCHIE COME ON_

_08/02/19: Holy shit, holy shit he’s going to be fine thank god. He’s being putting under a suicide watch and some meds but he should be fine oh my god. I haven’t been that scared in months._

_08/02/19: I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t lose anybody else I can’t take it._

_09/01/19: Come home. I want my brother back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It might take me a while to get the next chapter out because there's A LOT to it, but I'll have it up as soon as it's done.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry for hurting Fred. You can still come scream at me on tumblr (archieandrewsprotectionsquad).


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda long (4.4k) just a heads up. There's two more chapters after this one; I'm going to try and finish writing the fic before I post the rest of it, but we'll see what happens.

Archie is practically seething by the time he finishes reading all of the texts from Jughead. He’d read the last six of them four times over, his disbelief not allowing Archie to come to terms with what he’d read. Why wouldn’t his friends tell him that his dad had tried to kill himself? Didn’t they think that that was an important detail to mention? Were they trying to keep it a secret from him somehow? Was there anything else that they hadn’t told him yet? 

He gets up, all but storming into the kitchen where he finds Jughead, leaning against the kitchen counter and staring at his phone.

Jughead looks up, setting his phone down as Archie walks over. “Hey, how did you sl-.”

“How long?” Archie interrupts.

“Wh- How long what?”

“How long since my dad _tried to kill himself_?” He barks out, shoving at Jughead’s shoulders.

Jughead holds up his hands defensively, giving Archie a shameful look.

“A month ago. We didn’t tell you be- don’t scoff at me. We didn’t tell you because we didn’t know if you would be able to handle it.”

“We? Who? You mean Betty and yourself?”

“ _Yeah._ You, quite literally, had just _walked back into town_ , and you didn’t even realize that you’d left in the first place. Excuse me for thinking that you might not be ready to hear about your own father trying to die while you were away. Besides, it’s not like that’s an easy conversation to have with someone.”   

Archie shakes his head, still angry with Jughead, but beginning to understand why he’d withheld the information to begin with. Archie turns away from him, hands on his hips.

“Where is he?”

“W-What?” Jughead stammers.

“If he’s not dead, where is he? I wanna know, Jug. Where’s my dad?”

“He’s at Common Ground, the mental hospital right at the edge of town.”

Archie remembers that place from when he was a kid. The mental hospital was on the way to where his Mom’s old office building was at, so he’d driven by dozens of times with his dad as a kid. He’d always wondered what the inside would look like, but had never had a reason to actually _go inside_ until now.

“Why? Did Hermione make-?”

“What, how could you- no.” Jughead interrupts, a look of disbelief growing on his face. “No, he checked himself in, he’s under a sixty-day hold. Look, I know that you’re likely still upset with me, but I promise that I’ll take you there tomorrow. We can go as soon as visiting hours start if you really want to.”

Archie sighs, the heaviness of the situation taking a toll on him. This isn’t at all what he expected would happen when he’d been walking up the street towards his house earlier this week. He’d expected to call the hospital, or maybe the Sheriff himself, and figure out what had really happened with Pop’s and his dad. Now that he knows all of the messy details, he almost wishes that he hadn’t come back. Some strange part of Archie wishes that had just stayed hidden, wherever that was.

“Alright,” He says. “We’ll go tomorrow morning.”

***

“Are you sure that you want to do this?” Jughead asks as he pulls into the Common Ground parking lot.

“For the fifth time, _yes_. He’s my dad, Jughead. I want him to know that I’m okay, my guess is that he could use some good news.”

Signing in as guests is weird; the woman behind the desk won’t stop staring at Archie like he’s grown a second head. All he can bring himself to do is nod and avoid making direct eye contact with her. He sticks to pulling at the sleeves of his suit jacket, despite the jacket being exactly the right length. Eventually, the nurse gives Jughead the “okay” to go on up to the second floor where Fred’s room is.  

“Are visitors generally allowed to go straight up to the patient’s room?” Archie asks as they walk the hallways.

“Not technically,” Jughead says. “But I come to visit your dad often enough that they know I’m not a bad guy. Also, some of them remember me from when I was a kid.”

“Wait, from wh-.”

“Here we are, Room 204.”

Archie looks over at the door on his left side; peering in the small, rectangular window, he can see his dad sitting at the desk. Archie swears that his heart skips a beat at the sight of him, he can’t help but to get excited.

Jughead raps on the door with his knuckles. “Fred? It’s Jughead, I have someone with me, can we come in?”

 _“Yeah, it’s open.”_ Comes from inside.

Archie feels like he can’t breathe as the door opens. It’s nearly impossible trying to keep himself from simply running over and embracing his dad like there’s no tomorrow.

Jughead has a smirk that’s spreading across his face. “Look who finally showed up.”

Fred turns to face both of them; his face falls, then turns into a scowl as he gets to his feet.

“Do you think this is funny, Jug?”  

“What?”

“You think it’s funny to hire some kid to dress up like my son? This is your bright idea to cheer me up because my son is dead? I don’t like it.”

“No, Dad-.” Archie tries.

“Don’t call me that.” Fred bites out, sneering at Archie. “I want the both of you to leave. Don’t come back here again, either one of you.”

“Mr. Andrews, come on. Just give us a minute to explain.”

“ _Out,_ the both of you get out!” Fred yells, shoving at the boys until they are no longer standing in the doorway. The door slams, then locks, and the silence that fills the air after that is enough to nearly bring Archie to his knees. He finds his way to a nearby chair, sinking into it and letting his head fall into his hands.

It wasn’t supposed to go like this, Archie and his dad were supposed to embrace each other, then spend the morning catching up and retelling old stories. Instead, his own father doesn’t even believe that he’s real, despite having just stood in front of him. Archie’s next breath rattles as it leaves his throat, threatening to break him to pieces. Jughead’s hand settles between his shoulder blades, it calms his senses just enough to keep him composed.

“Just give it some time,” Jughead says, attempting to be reassuring. “He’ll figure it out eventually.”

Archie scoffs. “He thinks that _I’m dead_ , Jug. What am I supposed to do? Just keep coming back until he realizes that it’s actually me? Prove myself to him somehow? My Dad thinks that we’re lying to him, I can’t- I don’t know how to fix that.”      

“You don’t have to fix it. This is something that he needs to do, on his own terms. We can’t just make him believe that you’re real, he has to do it himself. Forcing it won’t make this any easier on him, or you, for that matter. Look just… we’ll give it a few days, and then we’ll call him, both of us. We can try and explain the situation to him then, okay?”

“And if that doesn’t work?” Archie questions, his tone indignant.

“Then we’ll keep trying,” Jughead says softly. “You’re still Archie Andrews, dude; I’ve never seen you give up this easily, so don’t start now.”

Archie nods, gets to his feet, then claps Jughead on the shoulder as they make their way out of the facility.   

Afterward, the two of them find themselves at Ronnie’s, in the same booth that they always used to sit in as kids. As they make their way through their early lunch, Archie ponders on the conversation they had been having before the two of them arrived at Fred’s room.

“Hey, so, earlier- before the thing with my dad happened- you were saying that some of the nurses would recognize you from when you were a kid. What were you talking about? Why would they remember you?”

Jughead presses his tongue against the inside of his cheek, contemplating his words before he speaks.

“Uh… do you remember when we were seven and Jellybean and I stayed at your house for a weekend?”

Archie did remember, his mom had picked the two boys up from school that day with Jellybean already in the backseat. She said that they would be having a sleepover that weekend, but didn’t say why or explain why Jellybean was there too. That was the same weekend Fred offered to help FP build a treehouse in the Jones’ old backyard. The treehouse was put together a week later, and Archie forgot to ask why Jughead and his sister had stayed over in the first place.

“Yeah, why?”

“My grandmother- my mom’s mom, she had died that morning. I didn’t know that then, of course, but your parents had been nice enough to let us stay at your house for the weekend while my parents set the funeral arrangements.”

“Okay…” Archie said curiously. “But what does that have to do with the nurses knowing you?” 

“She… my grandmother had schizophrenia. She had been staying at Common Ground for the last few months before she passed. We went to see her often enough that we became friendly with a handful of nurses, some of them were still there when I first went to visit your dad.”  

Archie nodded. “I guess that makes sense… I’m really sorry, Jughead.”

“It’s fine, I was a kid and that was a long time ago. You ready to leave?”

“Yeah, sure. Here, I’ll get the tab.” Archie says, walking over to the front counter.

Jughead looks at him curiously as he searches for his wallet. He pulls at the fabric on Archie’s shoulder.

“Dude why are you still wearing that thing?”

Archie scoffs, “It’s the only thing that fits, dude. Give me a break.”

Finally, he pulls his wallet out of his inside pocket then hands his card to the waitress ringing him. Jughead won’t stop looking at him like he’s grown a second head; before he can ask, Jughead speaks up.

“Why the fuck do you have a credit card?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t have a credit-.”

Archie looks down at the card the waitress handed back to him and realizes that Jughead is right. It’s not the spending card that his dad would put his allowance on, it’s a legitimate credit card. Then, he realizes that in his hand isn’t the wallet he was gifted when he was twelve. In his hand is a woman’s clutch, it’s a deep red color, with a clasp on the front.

The thing that leaves Archie feeling even more unsettled is when he notices the name _Taylor Garrett_ printed on the bottom. He picks it up, nearly crushing the card in his hand.

“I think we need to go see Sheriff Keller.” 

***

The two of them are inside Sheriff Keller’s office within the hour, as if he’d been expecting them to show up. Archie hands over the card and the wallet, internally hoping that Sheriff Keller has a solid answer as to whomever Taylor is.

“We’ve been looking all week, and we haven’t been able to track down anyone by the name of Taylor Garrett. There’s no record of anyone with that name in the whole city, or the county for that matter. Did you by any chance happen to find an ID in the wallet?”

Archie shakes his head. “No, I looked, but I couldn’t find one.”

“Lucky for you, we were able to track down the location of the vehicle of those car keys that you had when you came back into town. It’s at a small house right outside of Greendale, a few deputies and I have plans to go there tomorrow. So, you know, keep your phone on and-.”

“Don’t leave town,” Archie interrupts. “Yeah, I got it.”

Feeling frustrated, Archie takes a shower as soon as he gets home. He stands there under the hot water, trying his hardest to relax, only to find that he can’t. At some point, he looks down and finds that he has a scar running from just below his knee to the middle of his thigh on his right leg. It’s jagged and thick, looking like it wasn’t treated as well as it could have been.

Curious, Archie turns off the water, steps out of the shower and stands in front of the mirror, hoping to find something else. He notices a faded scar at the hairline of his right temple, he thinks back to the flashback he’d had in Ronnie’s a few days before. The scar is in the same place that the woman had held a towel to his head. Archie doesn’t doubt that the two things correlate somehow.

He goes downstairs and finds Jughead in the kitchen.

“Oh no,” Jughead says. “You’ve got your “Serious Thinking Face” on. What’s up?”

Archie starts speaking before he fully knows where he’s going with the conversation.

“You remember the other day at Ronnie’s? When I… spaced out?”

“Yeah?”

“Well I-… I was having a flashback, at least I think I was. They’ve been happening all week; that’s why I had a panic attack the other night; because something Cheryl did reminded me of something that happened while I was gone. Anyways, in every flashback that I’ve had, there’s a woman there, but I can never see her face. I’ve been having dreams about her too, about things that we did together, but I can’t ever see what she looks like. Jug, these dreams and the flashbacks, they all correlate with each other.”

“Do you think that’s where you were? With her?” Jughead asks, a concerned looking growing on his face.

“I don’t know man, but I think she knew me. I think she knew me before I disappeared.”

***

“Remind me again why we’re seeing a therapist?” Archie asks in the car the next morning, already parked outside of a small, townhome.

“Because, Arch,” Jughead says, gesturing to the grey house. “Some woman, that you still _can’t remember_ , had you holed up in her house for nearly two years. It’s not going to help us if you can’t remember any of it.”

“That still doesn’t explain what we’re doing here.”

“He specializes in Recovered-Memory Therapy; he works with people that have been abused and helps them cope with their repressed memories.”

“Wh- Then how do you know him?”

Jughead rolls his eyes. “My mom insisted that I see him after I had that stint at the detention center. She’d been seeing him for a while after everything with my grandma happened- look, will you just go in? I already called and told him that you were coming.”

Archie huffs, glares at the house again before pushing the door open. He walks up the sidewalk to the porch, rapping on the window with his knuckles.

A man who doesn’t look to be much older than his father appears, opens the door, then looks at him quizzically. He shifts his weight onto one leg.

“Are you Forsythe Jones’ friend?”

“Uh, yeah- Archie Andrews, sir.”

He holds out a hand. “I’m Dr. Wyatt Coleman, and you don’t need to call me sir. Come on in.”

Archie follows him inside; Dr. Wyatt leads him through the living room, then into another back room. There’s a desk, a wall lined with books and photos, as well as two couches in the small room. Feeling anxious, Archie picks the couch furthest away from the desk.

“So,” Dr. Wyatt starts. “What can I do for you, Mr. Andrews?”

_“What can I do for you, Mr. Andrews?”_

_“Can I talk to you, Miss Grundy? Please?”_

_“That depends. About what?”_

_“Music. You’re the music teacher, can we talk about music?”_  

The memory from the first day of sophomore year leaves Archie feeling more unsettled than before, makes him feel as though he is not supposed to be there. Nonetheless, he answers the question.

“Uh my friend, Jug- I mean, Forsythe, he thinks that you might be able to help me out with some… issues that I’ve been having.”

“Mr. Jones asked me to speak with you… he didn’t elaborate as to why, however.”

Archie sighs, realizing that he’s going to have to explain himself before this conversation goes any further.

“I, uh… got lost. No, wait, not lost. I went missing, for almost two years. The thing is, I didn’t even realize that I’d left, I thought that it had only been a few hours, not even that much. I don’t really remember all of it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“When I got back I started having these flashbacks. I’ve been having really weird dreams, too.”

“How long ago was this? Since you’ve been back?”

“About two weeks now.”

Dr. Wyatt scribbles into the manila folder in his lap. “These dreams and flashbacks, they correlate with each other. Am I correct?”

Archie nods.

“Well, from what you’ve told me, and with the little bit of information that Mr. Jones gave me, it definitely sounds like you have Repressed Memories. Quite a lot of them, it seems. Repressed Memories are moments or memories that we subconsciously block out, it’s the brain's way of dealing with high levels of stress or trauma. Can you tell me what you were doing before you went missing?”

Archie swallows thickly, “I witnessed a robbery, or part of one at least. I heard a gun go off as I was running away- my dad, he was there, he told me to run. I tripped and hit my head at some point, at least I’m pretty sure that I did.”

He hums in response, “Have you ever heard of Psychogenic Amnesia, Mr. Andrews?”

Archie shakes his head.

Dr. Wyatt continues, “It’s also known Dissociative Amnesia, do you know what that is?”

“I think so… dissociating is kind of like when you space out. Right?”

“Well, not entirely. One of the biggest characteristics of Dissociation is a detachment from reality. When you pair that with Amnesia, the effects can last for hours, or even years in some cases. It’s likely that after seeing something as traumatic as you did, your brain wasn’t able to keep up with all of the new information, so-.”

“Are you saying that I forgot who I was?” Archie interrupts.     

Dr. Wyatt settles back into his chair, an almost surprised look on his face.

“It’s a possibility. Your brain was obviously under a lot of stress, it’s likely that your brain decided to wait until you were in safe place- back home again- before returning to full awareness. Coming back to reality after dissociating for extended periods of time, a fugue state if you will, can cause some shame or discomfort. More often than not, the memories return all on their own. Does that make sense?”

“So, hold up, you just want me to wait for all of these memories to come back to me?” Archie counters. “I don’t want to wait, I want to understand. I want to know where I was, I wanna be able to give my friends a solid answer as to why I was gone for almost two years. Look, Jughead said that you specialize in helping people cope with their memories, is there any possible way for you draw mine out? Can you make me remember them somehow?”

“Actually, now that you mention it…” He gets up, walking over to his desk and opening one of the drawers. Dr. Wyatt pulls out a small candle and a palm-sized lighter.

“Hypnosis can be used in cases like this, where someone has repressed or simply forgotten a memory. Hypnotic Induction is a common method used to talk someone though finding their memories? Would you like you like to try it?”

“How does it work?”

“I’d have to talk you through it, all you have to do to start is focus in order for you to recall the memory. Is there anything significant from the flashbacks that you can tell me?”

“The house,” Archie supplies. “This woman and I, we were always _inside_ of the house.”

“That’s good, we can work with that.” Dr. Wyatt moves closer, sitting on the couch opposite of Archie setting the candle on the side table. He lights it, then looks to Archie for a moment.

“Are you ready to start?”

Archie shrugs. “I guess so… so you just want me to think about the house?”

“For starters, yes, but I’ll talk you through the rest of it, okay? Don’t be nervous, just look at the candle and listen carefully to my voice. Got that?”

Archie nods.

“Look at the candle. Fix your eyes on it. Take a few deep breaths. Just keep breathing deeply. Listen to the sound of my voice. You will find that your eyelids have a tendency to get heavy. And the longer you stare at this, the more your eyelids get heavy, and you blink, and they have a feeling like something is pulling them down, as if they wanted to slowly close, and get drowsier…”

_Archie finds himself standing in the house, in what looks like the living room. He looks up and finds a woman standing in the doorway of the bedroom, her back facing him. A small purse is slung over her shoulder, as Archie moves closer he can hear the conversation that she’s having with someone else. He comes to stand behind her, he realizes that she’s talking to him._

_The memory version of Archie is wearing the same suit that he’d been wearing when he arrived back in Riverdale. He has his cell phone in one hand, there’s a confused, almost angry look on his face. It’s weird, watching himself inside of the memory. Regardless, Archie continues to do so, hopeful that it will help him to understand where he was in the first place._

_“What are you doing with that… Adam, honey, give me my keys.”_

_“Answer the question, Taylor.” He barks out, gripping the phone tighter. “Is this mine?”_

_She sputters. “I… yes. Yes, it’s yours.”_

_“Why would you keep this from me?”_

_“I was trying to protect you-.”_

_“From what? My family? It’s bad enough that I don’t remember them, and now you want to keep me from trying to find them as well? Why would you do this to me? Why are you keeping me here? Is this all some joke to you? Or do you just get off on watching me miss people that I’m not even sure actually exist.”_

_Memory Archie turns around, planting his hands on the drawer in front of him._

_Taylor clasps her hands together for a moment before stepping forward, reaching for Archie’s shoulder._

_“Adam, please. Just let me explain.”_

_His arm jerks back the moment she touches him; his fist connects with her face and she drops to her knees._

_Real Archie watches from the doorway as the Memory Archie’s face turns white as a ghost, suddenly overcome with panic. His hands begin to shake, the cell phone nearly falling out of his grip. He clumsily forces the phone into his pocket, eyes darting around the room; he scrubs a hand across his face._

_“I’m sorry, I-I’m so sorry.” He stammers. Memory Archie moves quickly, stepping around Taylor, not bothering to help her out. In his panic, he rushes out of the room, moving through Real Archie and heading straight for the front door that’s cracked open._

_“Adam, wait, no. Come back.”_

Archie comes out of the memory with a gasp, nearly falling off the couch. He has to look around the room multiple times, reminding himself of where he is and _yes this is actually happening._

Dr. Wyatt is still adjacent to him, his hand stretched out and a concerned look spread across his face. “Son, are you alright?”

Archie nods half-heartedly, breathing heavily. He stands up, wipes his clammy hands on the front of his jeans. He runs a hand through his hair, making a move towards the front door as he stammers his way through a sentence.

“T-Thanks, for all the help, but- I’m gonna go, I’m gonna leave now. I’m sorry.”

“Do you want to set up another appointment?” Dr. Wyatt asks him.

“N-No,” Archie says a little too quickly. “I shouldn’t- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come here.”

He finds his way out of the house, pushing the screen door open and letting it slam behind him. Archie looks up and finds Jughead leaning against the side of the truck, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and the lighter halfway there. Jughead speaks around the cigarette as he looks up at the redhead.

“How did it go?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it- and you shouldn’t be smoking.”

“Yeah, and you shouldn’t be fucking teachers,” Jughead mutters; his eyes shoot up as soon as he realizes what he’s said. “Dude. Oh my god. Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-.”

Archie holds up a hand, scoffs a little. “It’s fine, Jug… besides, that was a long time ago, technically.”

 _It feels like only a few months ago, unfortunately._  

He pushes the thought away, moving to get inside of the truck along with Jughead.

“Sheriff Keller called while you were inside,” He says as he starts the car. “A few deputies went to Taylor Garrett’s house to track down the car and _she was there._ Sheriff Keller had her brought in for questioning, they want you to come in and see if you recognize her at all. If you’re not feeling up to it we could just go home, maybe try-.”

“No, no let’s just go now.” Archie interrupts. “If I don’t do it now, then I’ll never end up figuring this out.”

They stay silent on the drive over to the police station. Archie rests his head against the window, staring at his hands.

_I hurt her… I hurt that woman and I don’t even know what she looks like. I barely know who she is. I can’t believe that this is happening; I wish it would turn out to be some bad dream, I want all of this to be over already._

Sheriff Keller is waiting for them at the front door when they arrive, he immediately ushers them into a mess of long hallways, showing them to an interrogation room. Archie doesn’t have time to prepare himself or back out of the situation; the door is already open, the moment that he looks inside he regrets it. He feels like he just got the wind knocked out of him.

Miss Geraldine Grundy stares back at him, unleashing a stampede of panic when she gives Archie a half grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know. Feel free to come scream at me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait to post this chapter, but then asexualjug on tumblr left a really nice comment so I decided to go ahead and post it. Also, this is A Lot of feelings. You've been warned.

He panics. The moment that he makes eye contact with Miss Grundy, Archie begins to panic. Instantly, he moves away from the door, sliding down with his back against the wall.

 _This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening. She’s not here, she can’t be here. She left. She’s not real, she isn’t really here right now this can’t be true._  

Breathing becomes impossible in a matter of seconds, it’s like trying to suck in air though a crooked straw. He presses his trembling fists into his eyes, trying to block out the rest of the world. Archie feels like someone is hammering at the top of his ribcage with a pick axe. The feeling of panic only grows, every second worse than the last.

A pair of hands settle on his shoulders and Archie can’t stop the whine that comes out of his mouth. He tries to squirm away, but the hands don’t let up.

“Arch, Archie listen to me.” Jughead says, in a firm but worried tone. “You’re okay, I promise that you’re okay. You don’t have to go with her, we can go home and never come back here again, please just breathe for me, alright?”

Archie’s next breath rattles as it leaves his throat. His entire body shakes as his hands drop to his sides. When he sees Jughead’s concerned face, a part of Archie wants to cry, wants to scream and shout until his throat is raw because _my god my life wasn’t supposed to turn out like this_. It takes another ten minutes of Jughead coaching him through the panic attack, but eventually it stops, leaving Archie sitting on the floor feeling worn out and unprepared to face Grundy again.

“You don’t have to go in there,” Sheriff Keller says from above them. “We can put this off until tomorrow, keep her overnight-.”

“No, I wanna do it now…” Archie says, using his weak arms to push himself to his feet. “I wanna get this over with, if I don’t do it now then it’ll never happen. I just wanna talk to her.”

Sheriff Keller nods, opening the door again. “Go ahead, we’ll be watching from the other room, okay?”

Archie nods, exhaling loudly. He balls his hands into fists as he walks in, trying to keep them from trembling. His stomach lurches as his eyes land on Grundy again, but he still forces himself inside, sits across from her at the metal table.

Grundy looks the same way that she always did at school; same glasses, same dirty blonde hair that falls in her face, and the same small smile. Today, however, she has a fading bruise around her right eye. The shiner looks like a sunset; it’s bright purple with a burst of red and yellow around the edges. Archie has a sick feeling in his stomach that he did that to her.

He swears that his throat has never been this dry before in his life, but somehow, he still finds the ability to speak. Archie can’t help but sound cynical.

“So… you changed your name again. Do I call you Geraldine or do I call you Taylor? Wait- or is it still technically Jennifer? I can’t keep track.”

“I’m still Geraldine, Archie,” She tells him. “Taylor Garrett was an alias more than anything else. The real Taylor Garrett she-… she was a friend I had in high school who died in a car wreck our senior year. People were always asking if we were sisters because we looked alike.”

“So you honored her memory by buying a car and taking out a credit card in her name? That makes a lot of sense… Why did you do it?”

Grundy laughs a little, looking confused. “Do what?”

“Why did you take me to your house and keep me there for two years?”

“You came to me.”

Archie squints, cocking his head to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“You ran out in front of my car. I watched you smack your head on the pavement; I didn’t even realize that it was you until I got out to see if you were okay. You were delusional, you barely knew who you were, and you kept mumbling about some robbery and that someone had been shot.”

“So, what you thought it would be fun to take me home? Play nurse like a couple of five-year-old kids?”

“I _was trying_ to help you.” She sneers. “My plan was to wait until you were better, I was going to patch you up and let you sleep it off for a few hours. But- you had to ask me what your own name was, you didn’t even know that we’d already met. I tried asking you questions that should have been obvious to you, but you kept looking at me like I was crazy.”

Archie shakes his head. “No, no I don’t believe you, that wouldn’t happen.”

“I wouldn’t lie about this, Archie.” Miss Grundy leans forward; the scent of her perfume filling Archie’s nostrils and he can’t stop the flashback from happening.

_“Is everything okay?” Taylor asks him. “You’ve been staring at the front door all morning.”_

_“Yeah, yeah I’m good… just thinking.”_

_“Alright,” She leans over the side of the couch to kiss him. “I’m going to take a shower, don’t miss me too much.”_

_Archie nods, watching her walk off. He waits until he hears the water running before he stands up, walking over to the front door. He’s never done this before, he hasn’t ever tried to leave before; but lately, he’s been feeling like this isn’t where he isn’t supposed to be. Archie lets out a large breath before unlocking the front door, then looks around just to make sure Taylor didn’t hear him._

_The cool air feels amazing on his skin; with one last look to the bedroom, Archie takes a step outside. He doesn’t bother to shut the door behind him, he’s too busy on making sure that he doesn’t turn around. It starts out as a walk, but his stride grows quicker with each step. He feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest when a familiar voice comes from behind him._

_“Adam? Adam, what are you doing? Come back!”_

Archie jerks back as the flashback ends, looking at Grundy with confusion on his face.

“I tried to leave… and you stopped me?”

“You weren’t ready, I was trying to look out for you.”

“By keeping me away from my family? From my friends? Screw you. I missed out on two years because of you, I didn’t get to say goodbye to my girlfriend because of you. You ruined _everything_ for me.”

Archie gets up without another word, pushing the door open and rushing out into the hallway. Just like in the flashback, Archie doesn’t stop moving, ignoring Sheriff Keller and Jughead calling after him. He keeps moving until he’s out of the police station.   

He begins to sprint as his feet hit the sidewalk, letting his body take him wherever it pleases. The rest of the flashback from before kicks in as he’s running blindly, like a movie that he’s being forced to watch.

_He’s is running now, dodging fallen trees and weaving his way through the woods. He trips over a tree root at some point, but gets back to his feet when he hears her calling after him again. Ignoring the way that his calves and chest have begun to burn, Archie picks up speed. Something about the whole situation feels familiar to him, as if he’d had to do it before._

_Eventually, he comes to a clearing in the trees and he can see the road, a glimpse at freedom. He stumbles onto the road without thinking about it; he whips his head to the left only to see a car coming right for him. He falls on his ass as he watches the car swerve at the last second, driving straight into a tree._

_The moment that he moves to go see if the driver is okay, she’s right behind him. Taylor gasps at the sight of the car, but still stays behind him._

_“We have to go, the police will be here and they can’t see us, they’ll start asking questions.”_

_Archie doesn’t move, he can’t bring himself to look away from the car. He thinks he going to be sick to his stomach; he did that, someone got hurt because of him._

_Taylor tugs on his elbow, more insistent now._

_“Adam, please, you're bleeding. We have to go.”_

_He looks down and realizes that she’s right, he has a gash that goes around the side of his knee cap on his right leg that’s bleeding everywhere, splattering onto the pavement below him. Reluctantly, he lets Taylor help him to his feet and guide him back to the house with an arm over her shoulders. He can’t stop from himself from turning his head to look back at the wreck, he can’t stop thinking about the driver, wondering if they're okay._

_Later, after Taylor has cleaned him up and wrapped his knee in gauze, they’re lying in bed together. He's on his back and Taylor has her head on his shoulder, one of her hands on the center of his chest._

_No matter what he does, he can’t get the image of the wrecked car out of his head. He feels terrible, like he should have done something more._

_“I’m sorry.” He says, more for himself than anyone else._

_Taylor looks up at him, rubs her thumb across his cheek_

_“I know… I know you are, honey.” She says softly._

_Next, she reaches up and kisses him, smiling fondly. She shifts, moving on top of him so that their hips are aligned. She kisses him again, more passionate this time. She sighs into his mouth and he runs his hand over the back of her head, his finger tugging lightly on the long strands._

_She pulls away, whispering against his mouth. “I’m so glad that you came back to me.”_

Archie skids to a halt as the flashback ends, bending over as he forces himself to catch his breath. His throat is dry and he can feel the way his clothes are sticking to his skin because of the sweat. His whole body feels heavy, like one giant, Archie sized ache.

Looking up, he realizes that he’s at Common Ground, the mental hospital where his dad is at. He goes inside without a second thought; he skips the nurses desk, ignoring them when they call after him saying that he has to check in. Archie doesn’t stop walking until he reaches his dad’s door. He doesn’t know what he’s going to say, but words start falling out of his mouth nonetheless.

“Dad? Dad, please just listen to me, alright?” Archie says, splaying his hands out on the door. “It’s me, it’s Archie, okay? I swear to god it’s me. I’m real, and I really need you to believe me, okay? I don’t how to handle this without you, Dad, please believe me.”

Just like he feared, nothing happens and Archie is met with silence. He bangs his head against the wooden door, his chest heaving. He thinks he could cry, feels like he’s seconds away from doing so before the door opens just a crack. Fred is staring at him with a concerned, fearful face, as if he’s afraid that Archie will disappear if he looks away.

“Please Dad, please it’s me. I swear it’s me.”

“That morning… at Pop’s, right before I got shot, what did I call you?”

_“Hey, Casanova… I went ahead and ordered your usual.”_

“Casanova,” Archie breathes out. “You called me Casanova and ordered my usual. A stack of blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon.”

Fred continues to eye his son curiously as he lets the door open even more.

Archie takes this as an open invitation to fall into his father’s chest, gripping him tightly. Archie hooks his chin over Fred’s shoulder, his whole body trembling with want and relief. He can’t help but to sob when one of his father’s hand comes to cradle the back of his head, scratching lightly.

“I’m here, Archie, I’m here… aw, kiddo, I’m so glad that you came back to me.”

“I’m s-so sorry Dad. I didn’t mean to leave, I-.”

“It’s okay, son, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Fred then pulls away, smiling at his son with watery eyes. He’s about to say more when a nurse comes along and interrupts their moment.

“Young man, you can’t be here without-.”

“It’s fine, Jamie,” Fred interjects. “My son was just leaving- go ahead, Archie. It’s okay, you can come back tomorrow, alright?”

“Okay.” Archie breathes out. He gives his dad one more, quick hug, ignoring the glare that Jamie is giving him. He can feel her eyes on him as he walks back towards the entrance; nonetheless, he turns back and looks at his father, waving at Fred before his disappears out of sight.

***

By the time Archie gets home, the sun has already started to set, the sky outside darker than it is light. When he walks into the Cooper’s house, Jughead is waiting for him on the couch with a book, like a parent whose kid stayed out past curfew.

“Hey,” Archie says. “Where’s Betty?”

Jughead doesn’t look up at him. “She left this morning to go visit Polly and the twins in Greendale for the day, she’ll be back tomorrow.  …Where were you? I tried calling.”

Archie pulls a face, digs his phone out of his pocket and finds that Jughead is right. He has 16 missed calls.

“Sorry, I-… I went to see my dad. He believes me now, he believes that I’m real.”

“That’s great,” Jughead says, crossing in front of Archie, his tone sarcastic. “As long as someone does. At least one of us knows you’re alive, right?”

“Whoa, Jug- I didn’t mean to-.”

“No, Archie, I thought _you were dead_. As far as I knew, you were dead, then you just show up out of nowhere and you can’t even tell us where you’ve been all this time. The last few weeks haven’t exactly been a walk in the park for us either, pal. I can’t just act like the last two years of my life didn’t happen… that wouldn’t be fair.”

“Fair to who? You?”

“No,” Jughead snaps. “To _Ronnie_.”

Her name seems to echo throughout the foyer, it sends a chill down Archie’s spine. He swallows thickly before speaking again, having found that his mouth went dry. 

“I’ve never heard you call her that before.” He mumbles.

Jughead scoffs lightly, walking towards the kitchen. “Yeah, well, like I said… a lot changed while you were gone.”

Archie realizes right then that there’s so much that he can’t fix, despite desperately wanting too. It dawns on him that he missed out on far more than he could ever imagine; a part of him feels horrible for disappearing like he did, even if hadn’t meant to do it in the first place. He decides to do something, not just for himself, but for Jughead.

“Jug, wait.” Archie calls after him.

Jughead halts, turns to face him with his shoulders hunched.

“What?”

Archie reaches out his arms, making a “come over here” motion with his hands.

“What the hell are you do-.”

Archie deadpans. “Dude, just give me a fuckin’ hug.”

Jughead stalls for a long moment, just staring back at Archie as his mouth threatens to pull itself into a grin. Then, as if being compelled by magic, he crosses through the entryway in three steps, barreling into Archie’ chest. Jughead gives Archie the most bone crushing hug that he’s ever felt. It’s by far the one of the best hugs he’s given/received in his entire life, second only to the hug that Archie gave his dad not even two hours ago.

“I missed you, dude.” Jughead rasps out over Archie shoulder.

“I know,” Archie says, running a hand down Jughead’s back. “I’m sure that I missed you too.”

***

“What made you want to marry Betty? I mean, I get that you two love each other and everything, but… I don’t know. I guess I’m just a little confused, that’s all.”

Archie and Jughead have migrated to the back porch, lying on their backs and staring up at the sky as Jughead goes through all the important things that Archie missed out on. They’re sharing a bottle of white wine between them because as Jughead so graciously put it: _we both deserve it after the shitastic day we’ve had and Alice is always talking about how she much hates this stuff anyways._

“Not to make this sound like a game of blame, but it’s kind of because of you.”

“Me?”

Jughead laughs a little before continuing.

“Yeah. After you left, all of us- well, mostly me-  we were all so scared of losing someone else. I knew that I wanted to be with Betty, then you were just… gone overnight, and I realized how terrified I was of losing her too. Just the idea of it made me sick to my stomach. I proposed with an old ring of my mom’s, Betty loved it and both of us cried. We knew we wanted to get married right away, so we made plans to get married right after graduation. It was a small ceremony, inner circle only, that whole day was perfect, I’d do it over again in heartbeat. I’m just glad that we didn’t push the wedding back a week like we originally planned.”

“Why?”

“…Because we would have had to postpone it for the funeral.”

Archie nods, not having to ask what he’s referencing.  

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for the funeral… and everything else, I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for you guys.”

“Honestly? I’m glad that you weren’t. It was messy and _hard_ , it was like some bad dream that none of us could wake up from. Hermione was a stoic mess, Betty couldn’t stop crying and- … all that I kept thinking was that Ronnie would know how to fix this. She always knew what to do, I think that’s why everyone liked her so much.”

“Yeah,” Archie agreed. “I know that I did.”

“On the subject of not being there,” Jughead interjects. “Sheriff Keller arrested Grundy after you ran out earlier. I’m not surprised, seeing as she basically confessed just by speaking to you. That’s good, right? Now she can’t get to you again.”

Archie exhales loudly, feeling oddly panicked at the mention of _her_ name.

“Yeah… yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“How… I know that this is none of my business, but how did she do it? How could she just keep you from remembering who you are for all that time?”

_“Adam? Adam, what are you doing? Come back!”_

“Adam… she called me Adam.”

“Why would she do that?”

Archie tells him softly, “I don’t think she wanted me to remember who I was.”

Neither of them say anything else after that; both of them uncertain as to what they could say that would make this situation better. They sit outside in the quiet for another ten minutes before Jughead goes inside and Archie walks over to his house, headed straight for his room and then onto his bed. 

That night as he’s falling asleep, Archie keeps imagining Veronica’s smile. He remembers the way that her face would light up when you gave her good news. As he drifts off, Archie thinks back on the last text she sent him, knowing full that she meant it.

_I know that you’re out there somewhere. I’m coming to find you, Archie. Even if it’s the last thing I do, I will find you. I promise._

***

In the morning, Archie finds himself being shaken awake by Jughead.

“Hey, Betty’s car broke down in Greendale, I’m gonna go pick her up. Do you wanna tag along?”

“Yeah, yeah sure.”

Twenty minutes later, Archie found himself in the front seat of Jughead’s truck, headed out of town and towards Greendale. Archie furrows his brow when Jughead takes a different road than the one he’d expected him to.

“Wait, what are you doing? The exit for Greendale is another two blocks up the street.”

“I know, I wouldn’t normally take this road either, but they’re doing construction on Route 40 until the end of the month.”

Archie continues to stare out the window; as he watches the woods rush past him outside, he gets an unsettling feeling of déjà vu crawling through his mind.

“I feel like I’ve been here before,” Archie says before he can stop himself.

Jughead scoffs a little. “They just finished paving this road nine months ago, so there’s no way that you’ve been here before. Also, it’s…”

“It’s what, Jughead?”

Jughead bites his lip before glancing over at Archie.

“This is where Veronica had her accident… a mile or two up the road.”

Archie looks outside again, sucking in a deep breath when the familiar feeling of a flashback comes to him.

_He’s is running now, dodging fallen trees and weaving his way through the woods. He trips over a tree root at some point but gets back to his feet when he hears her calling after him again. Ignoring the way that his calves and chest have begun to burn, Archie picks up speed. Something about the whole situation feels familiar to him, as if he’d had to do it before._

_Eventually, he comes to a clearing in the trees and he can see the road, a glimpse at freedom. He stumbles onto the road without thinking about it; he whips his head to left only to see a car coming right for him. He falls on his ass as he watches the car swerve at the last second, driving straight into a tree._

_Archie doesn’t move, he can’t bring himself to look away from the car. He thinks he going to be sick to his stomach; he did that, someone got hurt because of him._

Archie almost whines as the flashback ends, an awful feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He white-knuckle grips his thigh as the car continues to move, it takes everything he has not to let his voice crack.

“Jug.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I killed Ronnie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always feel free to scream at me. 
> 
> I think I might try and write an epilogue, but if that doesn't happen, then the next chapter is the last one! Get excited!


	7. Chapter 7

Jughead screeches to stop as soon as Archie finishes his sentence, both of them lurching forward and nearly meeting the dashboard with their foreheads. Neither of them move for what feels like an eternity. After a while, Jughead turns off the car in the middle of the road before looking at Archie

He deadpans, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Ronnie’s accident, I-I think it was my fault.”

“How- Archie, how could that even be possible, you weren’t even here.”

“But _I was_. When I was in the interrogation room with Grundy, I had a flash back, one where I ran away from the house. I waited until she was in the shower so she couldn’t stop me. It started out as just a walk, then I started walking faster, Then, I heard her yelling my name and I just started running, I-I wanted to get away from her, you know?”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain-.”

“No, just hear me out, alright? While I was running away from her, I saw this… clearing in the trees, I thought I was home free. I made a break for it. I ran out right into the middle of the road and this car was coming right for me.”

“Oh my god,” Jughead says under his breath.

“I-I tripped over my own foot and fell on my ass. When I looked up, the driver swerved at the last second to avoid hitting me. I saw the whole thing, the driver- I watched them drive straight into the tree. I wanted to help but she pulled me away- _fuck_ , what have I done?”

“Arch, you-.” Jughead tries to think of something to say that won’t make this worse. “You can’t know that that was Ronnie. There’s been a dozen accidents on this road since it was paved. Any of them could have been you, but only one of them was Veronica. There’s no way to be sure.”  

Archie sighs, looking at over at all of the trees surrounding them. He gets an idea; he pushes the car door open and gets out without taking another second to think about it. He starts walking down the middle of the road, only partially sure of where he’s going.

Jughead scrambles to get out of the car just to follow him.

“Wait, Archie, what are you doing?”

“I have to go find it.”

“Wh- find what?”

“The house, Jughead!” Archie exclaims, whirling around to face him. “If I can find the house then I’ll know that it’s real; I’ll know whether or not Veronica got hurt because of me.”

Jughead stares at Archie for a long moment, looking as though he’s not sure how to help in this situation. Then, with a deep sigh, he walks around to the bed of truck. He reaches his arm in, rummaging around until he finds a crowbar. When Archie pulls a curious face, Jughead copies the face right back at him.

“What? You didn’t think I was going to go about this without something to protect myself, did you?”

Archie rolls his eyes, then turns back around, headed down the road. He lets his feet carry him subconsciously. It’s like walking through the dark, trying to navigate his way to a place he isn’t totally sure that exists. The further that they walk, the more that Archie feels like his heart is trying to beat itself outside of his chest. About two miles down the road, Archie and Jughead both come to a stop when they see a tree with a memorial in front of it.

Pinned to the tree, above all of the teddy bears, flowers, and random candles is a photo of Veronica, showing off her pearly whites for a school photo.

Archie looks over at Jughead who simply shrugs at him.

“I think it was Cheryl’s idea.”

Archie huffs, shakes his head, and then looks around. Off to the right, a few yards from where he’s standing, there’s an undeniable break in the trees just past a light pole. Upon further inspection, he finds a slightly trodden path; without taking another second to think about it, he starts walking, hoping that he doesn’t get Jughead and himself lost in the woods.

Twenty minutes later, after hearing Jughead ask him if he’s sure that they’re going the right way, Archie spots a house off in the distance. He knows immediately that it’s the same house that he lived in for nearly two years, the house where Grundy had him hidden away like some captive. The front door is covered with police tape; Archie’s hands begin to sweat as he gets closer, he stops Jughead eight feet from the house, a hand on the center of his chest. 

“What?” Jughead asks. “Is this it? Is this the house?”

Archie lets out a shaky breath, the all too familiar feeling on a flashback coming on.

_Archie is standing the bedroom in front of the mirror attached to the bureau drawer, pulling his new suit coat over his shoulders when Taylor’s voice carries in from the other room._

_“Adam? I’m going to pick up dinner, is there anything else you-.” She stands in the doorway with a stunned look on her face. “Oh my god. Oh, you look so handsome, I can’t believe this.”_

_“Yeah?” He beams widely at her. “You really think so?”_

_Taylor comes and stands in front of him. “Are you kidding? I know so. As soon as I saw this I just knew that I had to get it for you, you look like a red headed James Dean. It’s a perfect fit, too.”_

_“I still don’t understand why you bought me this; nobody is going to see it… it’s not like we ever go anywhere.”_

_Taylor’s shoulders drop when Archie mumbles the last part of his sentence. He feels a little bit bad for guilting her like that, but he’s had cabin fever for months. He just wants to feel the sun on his skin again, even if for only a minute. She brings her hands up to his chest, smoothing down the lapels on his jacket. She gives Archie a small smile._

_“Soon… I promise.” She whispers. Taylor kisses his cheek with sincerity, as if it’s the most important thing that she’s going to do all day. She squeezes his hand before she leaves, whispering against the shell of his ear._

_“I’ll be back soon, don’t miss me too much.”_

_Archie grins to himself as she walks off. The second that he hears the door shut, he looks down and realizes that she left both her keys and her wallet on top of her jewelry box. He laughs a little, then puts the wallet in his inner pocket, knowing full well that she’ll have to come back for it. When he reaches for her keys, he notices that the top of the box is crooked. Curious, he picks up the keys in one hand, using the other the push back the lid._

_Inside is a cell phone, the shiny screen staring back at him._

_Archie can’t help but to be confused. He knows that Taylor doesn’t have a cellphone, he’s never seen her use one, not once. Even if this phone did belong to her, why would she keep it in a jewelry box? Was she trying to hide it? Did this phone actually belong to Archie? How many other things could she possibly be keeping from him?_

_He only has another second to think about it before he hears the front door open again. Archie can’t bring himself to move away from the dresser._

_“Hey, I forgot my keys do you see-.” Taylor stops when she sees Archie. He turns around slowly, holding the cell phone in his hand like one would hold a snotty tissue._

_“Is this mine?”_

_“What are you doing with that… Adam, honey, give me my keys.”_

_“Answer the question, Taylor.” He barks out, gripping the phone tighter. “Is this mine?”_

_She sputters. “I… yes. Yes, it’s yours.”_

_“Why would you keep this from me?”_

_“I was trying to protect you-.”_

_“From what? My family? It’s bad enough that I don’t remember them, and now you're keeping me from trying to find them as well? Why would you do this to me? Why are you keeping me here? Is this all some joke to you? Or do you just get off on watching me miss people that I’m not even sure actually exist.”_

_Archie turns around, planting his hands on the drawer in front of him._

_Taylor clasps her hands together for a moment before stepping forward, reaching for Archie’s shoulder._

_“Adam, please. Just let me explain.”_

_His arm jerks back the moment she touches him; his fist connects with her face and she drops to her knees._

_Archie’s face turns white as a ghost, suddenly overcome with panic. His hands begin to shake, the cell phone nearly falling out of his grip. He clumsily forces the phone into his pocket, eyes darting around the room; he scrubs a hand across his face._

_“I’m sorry, I-I’m so sorry.” He stammers. Archie moves quickly, stepping around Taylor, not bothering to help her out. In his panic, he rushes out of the room, headed straight for the front door that’s cracked open._

_“Adam, wait, no. Come back.”_

_Archie doesn’t stop moving once he’s out the door, running like it’s the only thing that’s going to keep him alive. He thinks that he’s going to be sick, but that doesn’t stop him; Archie keeps moving until he finds a strip of road. As he walks along the side of the pavement, his chest heaves, his breath stuttering as it tries to escape his lungs._

_Archie’s brain starts going into overdrive._

I hit her fuck I hit her what have I done what have I done what have I done I can’t go back she won’t want me I have to go home I can’t go home she won’t want me fuck fuck what have I done.

_He doesn’t even realize that there had been a bus coming up behind him until it comes to halt twenty feet in front of him. Skittish as a deer, Archie nearly jumps out of skin his when the bus driver steps out of the vehicle._

_The older black man approaches cautiously, one hand held out in front of him._

_“Are you alright, son?”_

_Archie can’t even bring himself to answer the man, still too panicked to think straight. Instead, he staggers towards the bus, stumbling up the steps and sitting down in the first seat that he can find. He presses his fists into his eyes, as if that’s going to make all of this an easy for him. Time seems to rush past while he’s on the bus; it feels like only seconds later that the driver is pulling into a bus station and Archie is flying out of his seat._

_Once inside of the bus station, he goes straight to the bathroom, ignoring the woman at the front desk asking him questions. He barely makes into a stall before he starts puking his guts out, all of the anxiety finally catching up with the rest of his body. Archie feels like he’s floating outside of his body as he sits back and stares at the ceiling while the panic attack finally comes to an end._

_It feels like he’s coming out of a bad dream that he didn’t even realize that he was in._

Archie stumbles a little as the flashback ends, nearly falling into Jughead. He clears his throat, holds his hand out, palm facing up.

“Give me the crowbar?” Archie asks.

Jughead settles the tool in his hand without question.

Archie grips the cool metal in his hand, telling himself that this is the right thing to do. Marching up to one of the front windows, he rears his arm back then smashes the crowbar against the glass, watching as the shattered pieces collect in front of his feet. Archie sweeps away more of the glass from the window, then turns back to Jughead and hands back the crowbar.

“Stay here,” He throws over his shoulder. “Don’t follow me.”

“What? No way! I’m not letting you go in there al-.”

“Jug, I don’t know what’s going to be in there and if it’s bad then I don’t want you to see it. You shouldn’t have to be a witness to this, I don’t want to you be. So, _please_ , just stay here.”

“Yeah, yeah okay I’ll just… I’ll wait here.”

Archie nods, thankful that Jughead isn’t fighting him on this. He pushes back the navy-blue curtains, ducking his head and going in leg first.

Once he’s inside and on his own two feet, Archie feels like he’s gotten the wind knocked out of him. The house is smaller than the flashbacks make it seem, darker too. It’s a foreign feeling being inside the house, not necessarily a pleasant one. He walks around, turning over picture frames that have been faced down, forcing himself to look at all the photos with Grundy and some strange version of himself.

In the third one he picks up, it’s a photo of him, curled up and fast asleep on the couch in a jacket and blue jeans. He knows that Grundy had to have taken the picture; he wonders what kind of thoughts were running through her head when she did.

Archie can’t help but wonder how he could have been so clueless. How could he have let her keep him here and not once stop wonder why he was there in the first place? How did he not fully realize that this wasn’t where he was supposed to be?   

Archie lets the photo fall to the floor, feeling satisfied when he hears the glass crack against the hardwood floors. He keeps moving, shuffling his way through each room, laughing a little when he runs his hands over the furniture and finds a small layer of dust on the tips of his fingers. As he stands in the kitchen, he tries to pull a memory out of this place, wills himself to try and find something positive that happened here. When no memory comes to him, Archie is thankful that this isn’t his life anymore, even if he wasn’t aware that it was happening when it did.

With a tight feeling in his gut, he stands in the doorway of the bedroom, replaying the fight that Grundy and himself had had on that last day. It takes a long moment before he can bring himself to actually go in, but he eventually does. Archie feels like he’s walking around in someone else’s home when they aren’t there, feels like a traitor in some weird sense. The bedroom is more lit up then the rest of the house, the walls are a pale-yellow color; the light coming in from the windows creating shadows across the wall.

Shuffling over, he splays his hands out against the dresser, just like he had in the midst of the fight with Grundy. The feeling of déjà vu is back; Archie hates it with a burning passion. He goes to the closet and finds clothes that are obviously meant for him. Random shirts, a few pants, and a handful of sweatshirts are hanging up in front of him. 

A sudden burst of anger floods his system. He hates this, he wishes that he had never been in this place to begin with, wishes that he had never remembered being here. Before he can stop himself, he’s yanking clothes off of their hangers with reckless abandon. The assorted fabrics land in growing heaps on the floor in front of him. Once all of the hangers are empty, Archie groans, reaching for the blankets on the top shelf. He stumbles back when the whole shelf comes down with them, protecting his face with his arm. His heart nearly leaps into this throat when he looks back at the mess in front of him.

Lying on top of all of the clothes and blankets is his lettermen jacket, the blue and yellow fabric practically taunting him.

_“Babe, will you grab an extra blanket out of the closet? It’s freezing in here.”_

_Archie walks into the bedroom, headed straight for the closet. He searches for the thickest blanket that he can find. After he’s pulled out most of the blankets, he finds a jacket folded neatly in the back corner, nearly reaches for it before stopping himself._

_“Hey, whose jacket is this?” He calls out._

_There’s an elongated pause before she answers._

_“Um… I don’t remember. I think I got it at a garage sale or something a while back. Leave it there, it wouldn’t fit you anyway.”_

Archie feels sick to his stomach again, almost wanting to laugh at how easily he trusted her, how utterly blind he was to the rest of the world. It dawns on him that there are other people who have been in his situation, that he isn’t the only one who is ever going to feel this way. He can only imagine how they learned to cope with it; he wonders if he’ll ever be able to consider himself _recovered_ from his experience. Archie tells himself that he should call Dr. Wyatt, to apologize for running out on the appointment, but also, to ask if he has any tips on how to properly cope with what happened to him.

He laughs a little as he bends over to pick up the jacket, enjoying the feeling of the material in his hands. Archie remembers the first time that he’d put the jacket in. It was a few weeks into Freshmen year, shortly after he had made the football team. Archie had waited until his dad got home that night, wanting to share the experience with him.

The letterman jacket ended up being a size too big; Fred had chuckled when Archie put it on for the first time, the sleeves had reached the tops of his knuckles. Luckily, he’d grown into the jacket over the course of that year. Archie doubts that it would fit now, especially after all the time that’s passed. Nonetheless, he tightens his grip on the jacket, sight set on taking it home with him. He’s halfway to the door when he halts, the queen-sized bed catching his eye.

The bed is unmade, as if Grundy had still been in it when the police officers came to question her the day before. The angry feeling that Archie had felt before is back, growing in size at the ultimate realization that _they shared this space together_. He doesn’t want to think about the things that they more than likely did in this bed, how they might have held each other.

Without taking another second to think about it, he moves closer to the far side of the bed. Archie works his jaw, spits forcefully on the sheets. He sighs, then finally exits not only the bedroom, but the house entirely, feeling his stomach threaten to lurch should he stay any longer.

Jughead is still standing outside when Archie comes out through the window. He makes a curious face at the sight of the jacket in Archie’s hand, but quickly ignores it, focusing on his friend.

“You okay?”

Archie gives him a half nod, moving forward and pulling Jughead in for a one-armed hug. It’s nowhere near as good as the hug they shared the night before, but he relishes the moment regardless. He steps away after a minute, clapping Jughead on the shoulder.

“C’mon,” He says. “Betty is going to be wondering where we are.”

It takes them twenty minutes to walk back to the car. Archie nearly turns around twice, nearly runs back to the house in search of a better understanding of went on while he was there. Jughead has to talk him out of it the second time, pleads with him not to go back there, tells him that it’s not worth it. He’s thankful for it, even more thankful for the warm hand that Jughead keeps on his back for the duration of the walk.

Once their back in the car, the crow bar back in its rightful place in the bed of the truck, Jughead sighs deeply in the front seat. The silence stretches between the two of them. He looks over at Archie, an unsure look on his face.

“You know that this doesn’t mean that what happened to Veronica was your fault, right? There’s no way to know. Even if there was- in the off chance that her accident was _somehow_ caused by you, she wouldn’t have blamed you for it. That’s not who she was as a person, you know that.”

Archie nods, trying to make himself believe the words that Jughead is saying.

“Yeah… yeah I know.”

Jughead starts the engine. “What’s next? A trial?”

“I don’t know,” He says. “But I don’t think that I’ll ever forget this.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Could you get a cheesier ending? I don't think so. 
> 
> Oh man, I'm so happy with how this turned out. I'm so thankful for all the comments, kudos, and anyone who has ever shared this fic. I have a few ideas for an epilogue, but for now, this is it. I'm grinning like an idiot right now because for a minute I didn't know if I'd be able to finish this fic. Thank you thank you thank you again to everyone who read this, it means the world to me. I hope y'all enjoyed this last chapter, have a great day! 
> 
> P.S. You can still yell at me if you need to, I'll understand.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave it to me to take eight months to write an epilogue. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

_Epilogue_

In the end, there is a trial. Eventually, Grundy is sentenced to five years in jail for kidnapping, holding a minor hostage, statutory rape and a laundry list of other things that Archie doesn’t know all of the technical language for.

The worst part is how he has to retell the story over and over again, in front of his friends and family no less. Three days into the trial, Archie starts having a flashback while he’s on the witness stand and a bad one at that. When he comes back to himself, his Dad and Jughead are kneeling in front of him, telling him that court has been adjourned for the day. Watching Miss Grundy being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs is one of the most unsettling things he’s ever witnessed in all his life.

He doesn’t tell anyone this, but sometimes he has nightmares about it. The dream always starts the same; Grundy is being escorted out of the courtroom, and then the handcuffs break somehow. Next, she pulls away from the cops and runs over to Archie, tackling him to the ground and choking him. It never fails to make him wake up in a cold sweat.

The healing process takes time, too, he’s found. At the advice and persistence of his father, he goes back to see Dr. Wyatt. He gives Archie tips on how to cope with his flashbacks and talks him through the new-found emotions that come with them.

Before he knows it, Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone in a hurry. Now, it’s New Year’s, and there’s something that Archie has been telling himself to do since he and Jughead found the house that he’d been held captive in.

That brings him to where he is now, sitting at the dining room table with his hands clasped in front of him, anxious out of his mind waiting for Hermione to return.

When she walks in the front door, Archie feels his stomach tighten even more than before.

“Mrs. L- uh, Hermione, could I talk to you, for a minute?”

“Sure, Archie,” She says, meeting him in the dining room. “What’s going on?”

Archie sputters for a moment, having seemingly forgotten what it was that he wanted to say.

“Archie… hon, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I uh- do you remember how at the trial I said that Jughead and I found the house where I was… staying.”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Its- the thing is, the road that we were on when we found it, it’s near the same place where Ronnie had her car wreck.”

Archie continues before he can see Hermione’s reaction.

“A while ago, when they brought her into the station for the first time, I had a flashback to a fight that Miss Grundy and I had. In the fight I- I ran out of the house and into the middle of the road. A car swerved at the last second to avoid hitting me. They drove straight into a tree, I wanted to help but- Mrs. Lodge, I think I cause Veronica’s accident… I’m _so_ sorry.”

Hermione stiffens up, not taking her eyes off of Archie.

He wishes that he knew what she was thinking, wonders if she’s upset with him.

“Come with me,” she says. “I wanna show you something.”

Archie gets up, follows her into the living room, watches over her shoulder as she pulls up a file on her laptop.

“A while ago, the city installed cameras on the newly paved road into town as a way to ticket the people who were speeding. After the accident, I asked Sheriff Keller to send me the footage; I thought that it would help me make my peace with things.”

“Mrs. Lodge-.”

“Just watch, Archie.”

Archie feels his whole body go rigid as the video starts. The feed is in black and white. His heart begins to beat faster and faster as each second goes by. A sleek black car approaches, rounds the corner and-

A deer walks out of the trees, into the middle of the road.

Archie can’t bring himself to watch the rest, tears his eyes away. He feels his throat close up at the sound of tires screeching, metal crunching together as the car meets the tree. He breathes a sigh of relief when Hermione turns it off.

She stands up to face him, placing her hands on either side of her face.

“You didn’t do this, okay?” She says gently. “You didn’t hurt Veronica.”

Archie lets out a shuddering breath, nods in agreement even though he hasn’t fully wrapped his head around it yet.

“Okay… I miss her, Hermione.”

“Oh, I know,” She says, hugging him tight. “I miss her, too. Every single day.”

The two of them stay there for a while, just holding onto each other- and crying a little. It’s cathartic in the best way; Archie finally feels like he can breathe again, a weight has been lifted off his shoulders, as cliché as it sounds.

Later, once Fred is home and Betty and Jughead have come over, they’re all watching the ball drop. Betty and Jughead kiss as the countdown ends, and Archie jumps a little when he hears fireworks come from somewhere outside.

Fred squeezes his shoulder, “You okay, son?”

“I’m good,” Archie tells him. “Actually, I think I’m finally starting to feel like myself again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I back dated this fic, so even though I *finished* it in May 2018, it'll show up in August 2017. 
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who read this fic, and to those who stuck around and waited for the epilogue! You're the best! As always, if you wanna talk riverdale, you can find me on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad. Thanks again for reading, have a great day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Please tell me if you like it (kudos and comments give me motivation), I'd really appreciate some feedback! If you wanna talk about Riverdale, you can find me on Tumblr as archiebones, it's a side blog. Thanks again for reading, have a great day!
> 
> Edit: This fic has been up for not even eight hours and I've already come to make edits, I must be insane.


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